DIY Mail Holders

Kate Hollingsworth
by Kate Hollingsworth
2 Materials
2 Hours
Easy
Anyone who knows me knows that I love repurposing crap into beautiful, usable things. One day I arrived home to find that my mum had left an old metal rack on my front veranda with the note “Can you use this?”. Hells, yes! Then it sat on the veranda for a few weeks while I formulated a plan for it. (Note: our front veranda is less of a “pretty welcome area” and more of a “holding bay for junk”. We’re very classy.)
(I imagine it’s an organiser that attaches to the inside of a door. Like in a pantry. Except it was pretty grotty so maybe a shed.) I unscrewed the metal baskets from the rails and spray painted them matt black. While the paint was drying I dug out an old pine 1×8, cut it and joined the pieces together to make a square(ish) timber plate.
I made two of these timber plates from the one board. Then I sanded them both, stained one and whitewashed the other. (Due to my brain being stretched thin at the moment, I don't have any more progress pics - sorry!) Let's just imagine that there are a bundle of in-depth, step-by-step pictures detailing how I attached the baskets to the timber plates, added some L-hooks and painted wording at the top. Got it? Great! Now let’s skip to the finished product: my DIY Mail Holders.
This is the mail holder that I stained. I used the larger basket and painted a formal “mail” sign at the top.
The screws that hold the basket to the wooden plate were a silver colour which looked stupid so I dabbed a bit of black paint on them.
Here we have the whitewashed one. The whitewash had a more feminine vibe so I used a curvier font for the “welcome home”.
The L-hooks are a perfect spot to hang keys or even a dog leash or two. I love repurposing things, especially if it includes using up old wood from my stash. This little project ticked all the boxes and I’m smitten with how my DIY mail holders turned out. I love them! So if you’re in the area, just unload your unwanted junk straight onto my front veranda. I’m kidding, Emma would kill me. (Just do it when she’s not home.)
Suggested materials:
  • Scrap wood
  • Metal baskets
Kate Hollingsworth
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  3 questions
  • Equ13024608 Equ13024608 on Oct 08, 2017

    Very nice idea..did you free-hand the welcome home script?

    I especially like the whitewashed one!

  • J P J P on Oct 09, 2017

    How did you get the fonts so neat an pretty?

  • Michele Bellfy Creech Michele Bellfy Creech on Dec 05, 2017

    What did you attach to the back for hanging on the wall? I absolutely love these!

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  • JC JC on Jul 06, 2019

    Fantastic you are very creative and your writing is very entertaining. I hope you shared your beautiful vision with your mum.

  • Im832600209 Im832600209 on Feb 24, 2022

    I'm going to make one of these to hang by my front door! Great job and thanks for explaining how you did the neat lettering!

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